Mexican soccer fan shot outside of a stadium in Tijuana after a Liga MX match dies

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A 24-year-old fan who was shot outside of a stadium in the northern city of Tijuana, Mexico, after a league match between Chivas and Xolos has died in a hospital, authorities confirmed on Saturday.

Before the end of the Mexican Apertura second round match on Friday, a brawl broke out between fans of both teams in the stands of the Caliente stadium in Tijuana.

On social media, there are several videos of a fan wearing a black shirt from the local team Xolos fighting inside the stadium and the same man later appears in another image, lying on the ground and bleeding in the parking lot.

The Prosecutor’s Office of the northwestern state of Baja California, where Tijuana is located, reported in a statement on Saturday that the 24-year-old man was found wounded in access 3 of the stadium and that the attacker had fled.

The man suffered gunshot injuries to his back, arm and head, and was taken by ambulance to a hospital of the Mexican Social Security Institute where he was pronounced dead.

The Liga MX condemned Saturday the acts of violence and said that they will cooperate with authorities while the Disciplinary Commission of the Mexican Soccer Federation said that they will open an investigation and will fine the club if necessary.

The death of the fan is yet another act of violence in the Liga MX. Last January, a Monterrey fan died after being hit by a truck driven by Santos Laguna fans outside the TSM stadium in Torreon, in the north part of the country, after a match between the teams.

In March 2022, fans from Querétaro and Atlas clashed with each other inside the the Corregidora stadium and 26 people were injured.

The match for the second round of the Apertura tournament ended with a 4-2 victory for Xolos over Chivas.

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The Associated Press journalist Fabiola Sánchez contributed to this report from Mexico City.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer